


Saviour's Day

by Piachichi



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Angst, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, unfortunately unfinished forever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-03 01:32:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1064093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piachichi/pseuds/Piachichi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis looked just as surprised as he felt, “Really?”, but then his face fell, “We'd have to leave Zayn here on his own. I don't think that's a good idea.”</p>
<p>Liam lifted an eyebrow, “Why? You'd be here with him.”</p>
<p>Louis turned towards him again, “You'd leave me here. On my own, in your apartment, with an unconscious Zayn I could always just leave behind to disappear with all your valuables.”</p>
<p>He sounded disbelieving.</p>
<p>“Promise you won't steal my stuff, then. I'd always have your boyfriend and best friend to bargain with anyway, so it wouldn't be a good deal for you, would it?”, Liam grinned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

* * *

 

Harry left the building in a hurry, half carrying Niall, stumbling through the alley, holding himself up on the wall to his right. His left hand clutched at Niall's hip, desperately holding on to make it as far as possible. He groaned in pain, steadying himself and made it another step, another one and a last one before he gently sat his friend down on the floor and collapsed next to him, closing his eyes in pain, in fear and in exhaustion. Then he opened them again, determined to be strong.

“We made it, Niall. Are you okay? Can you hear me? Look at me please, come on,” Harry shook his friend's shoulder gently. There was no reply, no reaction. Niall's eyes remained screwed shut and tears were running down his face. Harry put his arms around him and squeezed tight, hugging him to his chest with a whimper. Everything hurt. He was in so much pain.

Finally Niall reacted, pressing his face to Harry's neck and letting out a quiet whine before he started sobbing. Harry hugged him tighter, rubbing his back helplessly. Niall's whole body shook with his sobs. Harry noticed himself starting to cry again, too. He couldn't hold it in. He didn't know if it was because of the pain, the terror or the relief. They were alive, they'd made it out alive after all. He kissed Niall's cheek, but his friend was still shaking and sobbing and didn't even seem to notice.

  
Liam was walking down the street with his best friend Andy. He'd just finally gotten away from another “double blind date” Andy had dragged him to. The evening had been a disaster, full of awkward small talk and uncomfortable silences. Neither of the girls had been his type and they hadn't seemed very interested in him, either. Andy had only made it worse with his obvious flirting and had continuously pushed one of the girls in Liam's direction. Liam had felt bad for the girl, she had obviously been a lot more plain looking than her friend and had seemed very shy, too. He had honestly tried to have a conversation with her but there hadn't been anything to talk about. In the end they had both spent the evening watching the girl's friend – whose name Liam had already forgotten – flirting right back at Andy. Liam didn't think the two of them had exchanged numbers, though. Nothing would come out of the date in the end. It had been a complete waste of everyone's time.

Andy halted in his step and grabbed Liam's arm, stopping him.

“Do you hear someone crying or is that my depressed mind because I won't get laid for another week?”, he asked with a frown, stepping in front of a dark alley.

Liam stopped next to him and concentrated on his hearing. There definitely was someone crying and it didn't sound far away, either. He stepped into the alley, ignoring Andy's hissed “Stop there!”, following the sound. The farther he stepped into the alley, the louder the sound and the darker his surroundings got. By the time it sounded like it was directly in front of him, it was too dark to make out his own shoes. And he was wearing white shoes. It was pitch black around him.

Liam took out his phone, searching for the flashlight app Andy had installed into it as soon as he'd gotten it. It was the first time he actually needed the app. He found it, turned it on and the alley was suddenly lit up with white light. He blinked through the bright spots in his vision. The sobbing continued and his phone illuminated the scene in front of him, a man – no, just a boy – sitting on the floor with his head on his knees and another boy next to him, getting up into a standing position and looking at Liam with big scared eyes.

“Are you okay? What are you doing here?”, Liam asked quietly, lowering his phone so the light was less bright. Instead it was turned to the sitting boy and worry set into his stomach. The boy was shaking terribly in between his wrecked sobbing. It certainly looked like a panic attack.

“N-nothing. At all. We're leaving!”

The standing boy crouched next to the sitting one and grabbed his shoulders, trying to lift him up into a standing position. There was absolutely no reaction from the boy. The standing one was in his phone's line of light again and Liam saw how horrible he looked. His arms were covered in cuts and bruises, his eyebrow was bleeding and he stood on one leg only. He was white as a sheet, too – though that was probably just the phone's light, Liam hoped – and his hold on his friend was unsteady and shaky. He kept shooting Liam these terrified looks.

“Niall! Come on, help me with this. You need to get up. Are you breathing at all? Niall? Niall!”

Suddenly the boy wasn't trying to lift up his friend anymore, but instead shaking his shoulders, almost slamming his head into the wall behind him with repeatedly.

Liam took a few steps until he was right in front of the sitting one, crouched down and lifted the boy's head. His eyes were wide, full of tears and completely unfocused. He wasn't breathing. Liam's mind set itself into professional mode, he sat his phone on the ground, removed the hands of the boy sitting next to him who was still grabbing his friend tightly. The boy seemed to only notice him then, his eyes widening in shock when he realized how close Liam was. But Liam couldn't be bothered by that.

  
Harry was sitting on the cold floor, his mind blank and his eyes locked onto the man in front of him, who'd picked Niall up without hesitating and who was currently talking to his best friend, who finally seemed to react to his surroundings. He was staring at the guy, tears still streaming down his face but his shaking had gone back a lot. He looked so scared and Harry felt completely helpless.

“Listen mate, we have to get him out of here. You, too. You look like you need some medical care. Do you think you can help me steady him, so he can walk?”

The guy had turned towards Harry, looking at him with a serious but not an angry expression. His hand was on Niall's shoulder. Harry looked around himself. The alley was lit up by the tiny light coming from the guy's phone. There was nobody around. They were too close, they hadn't gotten far enough. He needed them to get out of there. A few seconds later he nodded and stood up, stumbling towards Niall and the stranger, who'd gotten up, too and was in the process of lifting up his blond friend into a standing position as if he weighed nothing.

With the stranger on Niall's right side and Harry on his left, they slowly made it out of the alley. There was more light and when they finally made it onto the street, there was another stranger waiting for them. He looked angry. Or surprised. Harry felt horrible, drunk, high, the world was spinning slightly and he wondered if he'd hit his head sometime in between standing in a circle of big men and lying on the floor getting kicked and laughed at. There was nothing he could do as he felt his hold on Niall loosen and himself hitting the floor before he closed his eyes and let the blackness envelope him.

  
One second Liam was holding up the blond boy and looking at Andy pleadingly, to get him to help them out and the next second the boy got a lot heavier and the curly-haired one landed on the floor with a thud.

“Shit. Andy, take him for a second,” Liam hissed and shoved the blond one into his friend's arms before kneeing down before the other one. He was out cold, lying motionless on the floor. But he was breathing.

“I need to take them to my place. I can't do anything here,” Liam explained and picked up the boy in front of him, “I need you to help me get them there.”

“No way. You're out of your mind. They look like bad news. Look at them, they're all beaten up! You've no idea what you're getting yourself into!”

Andy was holding up the blond boy carelessly with his one arm while gesticulating at the one in Liam's arms with his other. Liam frowned at him.

  
When they finally arrived at his apartment what felt like hours later – it had probably taken around 20 minutes, though – Liam felt ready to collapse himself. He laid the boy down on his sofa, looking around his living room for a place to put the other one who seemed only partly conscious by the time. Andy didn't wait for him to decide, he put the boy down into Liam's armchair, turned around on his heels and left. Liam sighed. He was in for a lot of trouble with his best friend. There were more pressing matters at hand, though. He hurried into his bedroom and got his first-aid supplies. Then he sat next to the curly-haired boy who looked a lot worse for wear than his blond friend, removed his shirt and started cleaning and wrapping the wounds on his arms, face and especially his stomach and chest.

  
When Harry woke up he felt a lot lighter than he could remember. He was also in a lot of pain. His whole body felt like it was bursting apart from the inside and he was hardly able to open his eyes. It took three tries before he got them open and was able to let them wander around the room. Then the panic settled in. This was not his home and he had no idea where he was. Despite the blinding pain, he shot up into a sitting position, frantically looking around for someone or something he recognized, ignoring the way his head was spinning.

Then there was a hand on his shoulder which pushed him back onto his back and a gentle voice next to him, “Calm down. You're fine. You need to lie down, though.”

Harry looked up at the voice. Right, he remembered that man – He'd gotten Niall and him out of the alley. But he couldn't remember the rest of it, how he'd gotten onto the sofa and why he was in some stranger's living room. And wait.

“Niall?”, Harry shot up again, the hand slipping off his shoulder. The stranger gave him a worried smile and pushed him back down again.

“Your friend is next door. Don't worry, he's sleeping. He seemed fine, too. Some scratches and bruises, but he should feel a lot better than you do right now. No need for you to worry.”

Harry was confused and then he remembered the rest of the night. Them being caught selling. Them being shoved into a car. Them being led into the most disgusting house he'd ever been in. Them being separated. Niall's screams, the men's slurs and insults and so much pain. His eyes filled with tears. Niall wasn't alright. There was every need to worry. That man didn't know a thing.

A minute later Harry was seated against a soft cushion and the man had put a cup of hot tea into his hands. He also put a blanket around his shoulders and Harry noticed he wasn't wearing his own shirt but a warm jumper instead.

“How are you feeling? Is the pain bearable? Do you feel nauseous at all?”

Harry just shook his head and held on to the cup in his hands. The warmth flooded him before he even took his first sip. He still felt so cold, though.

“Is there somebody you can call? Your parents, your siblings, a friend, a teacher?”, the stranger asked with a frown. He was right in front of Harry, sitting on the coffee table. Harry finally looked the man in the eyes and nodded vigorously. He needed to call Louis. God, how worried Louis had to be.

The man smiled brightly and held out his phone, “Do you know the number? You didn't seem to be carrying a phone, so..”

Harry ignored him, sat the cup down on the coffee table and quickly snatched the phone. He knew the number by heart and relief flooded through him when he held the phone to his ear and heard the ringing. Three rings later Louis' frantic voice called out something he didn't quite understand.

“Louis,-”

“Oh God, it's you, finally, Harry, are you okay? Where are you? Do you know how late it is? It's freaking 2 AM, I'm worried sick! How could you not call?!”

Louis sounded worried, angry and tired. Harry felt himself tear up again and a sob escaped him.

“Harry, are you crying? Crap, what's wrong? What happened? Talk to me!”

“W-we didn't know we weren't supposed to sell there. T-they just came and took us with t-them and they were so angry..”, Harry didn't even feel able to form a full sentence. He just wanted to curl up to Louis and cry. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and steadied himself, “They beat me up. Badly. Not Niall, though. One of the guys raped him. I'm sure he did, they kept saying it. I-i,..”

“WHAT? Where are you? Are you safe?”, Louis' shouting hurt his spinning head, but there was nothing else he wanted to hear more. This was familiar. This was good.

“I don't know where I am. There's this man, he's like – a doctor? I must've blacked out for a while and now I'm, wherever I am, whatever-”

“Maudlins Green”, the man interrupted him, “and I'm not a doctor.”

“Who's with you? Is that Niall?”

“No, it's that man. We're on Maudlins Green. I have no idea where that is.”

“I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm taking a cab. Don't let him hurt you, lock yourselves in the bathroom if you have to and don't come out until I'm there. It'll be three against one.”

“You'll get us?”, Harry whispered.

“Of course I will! I have to hang up now. I'll be there as soon as possible. Hang in there, love, you'll be fine, okay?”

“I'm okay.”

“I'll see you in a few.”

Louis had obviously hung up. Harry listened to the tooting for a few seconds before giving the phone back to the man in front of him. He took it and ended the call.

“Someone's coming to get you, then?”, he asked calmly.

Harry nodded and picked up his cup of tea again, taking careful sips. It hurt. He must've gotten a hit to his lip. He felt bad for just sitting there. He didn't know where Niall was. What if the guy had killed him? His gaze stayed at his cup. He felt too weak to worry. At the same time he felt horrible for not worrying enough.

“I'm Liam, by the way. I'm only a paramedic.”

Harry looked up. Suddenly the man – Liam – seemed a lot less dangerous, still smiling carefully.

“I need to see Niall”, Harry muttered, “Please let me see Niall.”

Liam looked reluctant for a moment before he stood up and nodded at Harry to do the same. Harry set down his tea and managed to stand up on his own. Thankfully Liam steadied him before he could fall right back down onto the sofa. Then he slowly lead Harry across the room towards an open door. They entered the room and Harry was flooded with relief when he saw Niall lying on another sofa. He fell to his knees in front of his friend, grabbed a handful of his hair and pressed his cheek to Niall's forehead. He was sleeping. He was alive. Things were going to be okay. He heard footsteps and turned around to see Liam leaving the room. He felt himself relax and put his arm around Niall's shoulders, closed his eyes and listened to his own heartbeat getting slower with every breath he took.

  
Liam really didn't feel up to this. He was incredibly thankful that someone was on their way to pick those boys up. He'd gotten in way over his head and there was nothing he would be able to do for them except for changing curly's bandages and making sure Niall didn't suffocate during another panic attack. He wanted to drop them off at a hospital. He hoped whoever was coming for them would take that responsibility away from him. It was so late and he'd had the night shift the day before. A look at the clock told him he'd been awake for more than 30 hours straight. He definitely wasn't made for that.

He busied himself with making even more tea and watching the steam leaving his cup until it cooled enough to not steam anymore before removing the tea bag and drinking it in big gulps. He put the cup into the sink and checked his guest bedroom slash study to see curly fast asleep with his head on the sofa. He quietly left and sat down on the sofa.

The bright ringing of the door bell was what woke Liam up with a start. He jumped up and hurried to the door. A glance at his watch told him he'd been asleep for all of 9 minutes. He pressed the button to open the front door and mumbled “second floor” into his speaking system. He opened his apartment door, leaned onto the wall and waited. God, he was beat.

Quick footsteps jumped up the stairs to his apartment. Someone seemed to take two stairs at once and soon enough, a guy with tight red pants and very, very messy hair ran towards him. The guy skipped to a stop, breathing heavily.

“You here for Niall and 'im?”, Liam asked tiredly.

The guy, still trying to catch his breath, nodded frantically. Liam led him into the apartment, not bothering to tell him to take off his shoes and showed him the guest bedroom. He saw the tension leave his visitor immediately when he arrived in the room and saw the boys sleeping.

Liam decided to give them some privacy and went back to his sofa, picking up his phone to play a stupid racing game to keep himself awake. He heard quiet talking from next door but couldn't make out the words. Since he didn't know the rather bright voice, he guessed it was the new guy talking most of the time. He also recognized curly's voice. He was thankful they'd left Niall asleep. During the last two hours, whenever the blonde had woken up for a moment, he'd gone right back into his panicked state from the alley. It was tiring and had worried him. Then he thought back to curly's conversation on the phone. He wondered if it was true. He wondered who “they” were and then again he just wanted all three of the strangers in his apartment to leave already so he could go back to sleep and get on with his life. He'd just tell himself it had been a nightmare. It was definitely bad enough to be a nightmare.

  
Louis was on his knees next to Harry, listening to everything with wide eyes. Harry didn't seem like himself at all. He was crying and stuttering and stumbling through his words in a hurry. He also had a pretty bad bruise on the side of his head, a bandage on his eyebrow and a nasty cut on his lip. Louis was filled with worry. Then he looked at Niall who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He looked alright. There were no bruises or cuts on his face but his eyes and cheeks were red. Harry's were, too. They must've been crying a lot.

When he heard someone coming into the room, Louis turned around and saw the guy who'd greeted him at the door. He looked even worse than Harry, apart from not being hurt. He looked dead tired.

“Will you take them to the hospital?”

Louis looked to the floor. Right. That was what he was supposed to do. He couldn't take them to the hospital, though – Not after what Harry had told him. There was absolutely no way. He shook his head and looked at the man again, whose confused gaze lingered on Harry.

“I think you should, though. I can drive you.”

Louis shook his head again and before he could answer, Harry butted in, “We're going to go home. It's fine. Thank you so much, uh-, Liam, but there's no need to go to the hospital.”

Louis heard the desperation in Harry's voice, but it was well hidden behind a careful smile. He wondered how he was supposed to get them home. He didn't have enough money left to take another cab.

Liam looked torn, looking from Niall to Harry to Louis to Niall and back to Louis, “Fine. I'll take you home then.”

Great. Louis didn't know what to say. This was actually a good thing, they needed a ride and here it was, presenting itself. Before he could consider it any longer, Harry nodded thankfully and Liam smiled widely. Louis sighed.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Exactly six days later Liam was walking through the dark streets of London again. Andy was walking next to him, talking excitedly about the date they were about to go on. Liam didn't know why he even bothered agreeing to them anymore, but then again he didn't have lots of choices and spending his Friday evening alone on his sofa with a movie didn't seem that exciting, either. So he'd agreed yet again.

“Where are we even going? I've never been here before. I think we're lost”, Liam interrupted an endless rant about the beautiful-wonderful-sexy-promising picture one of the girls had sent Andy before the date was set.

Andy stopped and looked around, “Uh, well, now that you mention it..”

Liam groaned.

“Oh come on, we just took a wrong turn. May not be the best street for a cute girl to walk on her own, but I don't think we have to worry about anything.”

Liam groaned again, but followed anyway when Andy resumed walking.

It turned out they really didn't have to worry about anything and it also turned out to be a very uncomfortable walk. When they'd first passed a scantily clad woman, neither of them had thought much of it. Then they passed one again and a few metres later they were held up by a pretty cute girl that looked much younger than them who asked if they were interested in a good deal while giving them obvious once-overs and licking her lips.

It hit Liam and he guessed Andy had already figured it out a lot earlier. All those women were prostitutes. Liam had never felt more awkward in his life. They passed the girl, apologizing and hurrying to the end of the street, passing a wall two guys were sitting on. Liam stopped abruptly and turned back around to stare at the guys. Or rather, one of them. Then he took a few steps back until he was right in front of him and his eyes widened. He ignored Andy's confused call. The guy looked up and his eyes widened almost comically when realization seemed to hit him.

“Liam?!”

Liam nodded and looked around himself. This was definitely Louis, who had picked Niall and Harry up after he'd brought them to his apartment six days ago. That was most definitely the one he'd wanted to take home and ended up leaving somewhere in the middle of a street because he didn't want him to know where they lived. And he was sitting in between prostitutes. And he really didn't seem to be a customer.

“Louis?”, he finally asked with a little bit of uncertainty. His memories of that night were a little clouded because he'd been so dead tired. Maybe he was wrong. He ignored the logic behind it and continued staring.

“What the hell are you doing here?”, Louis asked incredulously. He seemed almost mad. The – ridiculously pretty – guy next to him looked completely unfazed, smoking a cigarette and looking in the opposite direction.

“What the hell are you doing here?”, Liam hissed instead of answering.

“Well, what does it look like I'm doing? That's exactly what I'm doing. But what are you doing?”, Louis asked with a frown.

“You, you..-”, Liam didn't know what to say. There was no way.

“We took a wrong turn and ended up here. We're on the way to main street actually”, he ended up saying. He ignored the nagging questions that were on the tip of his tongue.

Louis nodded. He looked relieved and even smiled slightly, “You know, Niall and Harry kind of never shut up about you. They are pretty thankful. I guess I am, too. I'd rather have you leave now, though.”

Before he was able to answer, Liam was pulled back and Andy glared at him, “What the hell are you doing talking to them? You want their service or something? We're on our way to a date!”

And without hesitating or giving Liam a chance to say goodbye, he pulled him away from Louis. Liam looked back and shrugged apologetically, but Louis seemed to be grinning at him before turning back to the guy sitting next to him.

  
The date was a disaster. Well, it was a disaster for him while Andy seemed to be having a great time with the, admittedly, very cute girl he'd planned the date with. Her friend – who was unofficially supposed to be Liam's date for the evening – was everything Liam wasn't looking for, though. And she was annoying. She talked a lot and none of it made sense or interested Liam in the least. He guessed the girl had as horrible a time as he had, though, because she looked like she was in pain every time he started talking about something that actually interested him before she forcefully changed the topic of conversation again. After about an hour of that, Liam had concentrated on eating, drinking and not listening to anything she said. He didn't even bother looking interested. He was only waiting for a chance to excuse himself so he could go home.

The chance presented itself two hours after the start of the date when Andy looked at his phone and grinned at his date, telling her that it was already 10 PM and, wow, time was running by quickly when you're having fun. Liam rolled his eyes, grabbed the chance and acted shocked, telling them he'd have to work in the morning – it was a lie – and five minutes later he was outside the restaurant, taking a deep breath and looking forward to his sofa.

He ended up getting lost again, running into a homeless man, giving him all his change, walking the whole way back and taking about three times as long as needed to get home. Then he ignored his sofa, jumped into the shower, brushed his teeth and fell into his bed. He was asleep in no time.

  
The next morning he woke up at 9 AM, well-rested and in a very good mood. He spent his morning in bed reading a book until hunger chased him out of his bedroom. After having half-frozen pizza for breakfast – he was too hungry to wait for it to be done – he spend the rest of his free time lounging on the sofa, watching horrible daytime TV and snacking on ice-cream because he couldn't be bothered to make himself something proper.

Unfortunately that ended at 1 PM. He quickly made himself a sandwich, finally brushed his teeth and got into his car to go to work.

Liam loved his job a lot. He loved helping people, he loved having the responsibility, he loved the excitement, as morbid as it was, but he hated when there was nothing to do. That didn't happen a lot because it was London and there was always someone who needed an ambulance. But when it happened, he sat around with his co-workers waiting for a call. It was horrible. That's how he spent the first few hours of his shift, only having to get up once to drive a teenage girl to another hospital. He was in the ambulance with two of his co-workers and the girl seemed alright, sitting opposite him. They spent the ride chatting about her boyfriend and afterward, the waiting continued.

The last three hours of his shift were some of the busiest he'd ever had. They were called to a car accident first, then they hurried to a football game, then they nearly crashed when a truck driver didn't stop for them and finally they were called to a family with a sick little girl. Liam hated being called to children because he couldn't stand seeing them in pain and they haunted him for weeks, no matter how good it ended.

Usually, his shift would have ended at 10 PM but they spent nearly an hour in the little girl's bedroom before they were able to stabilize her enough to get her into the ambulance, having called two doctors during that hour and Liam ended up having to calm down the girl's mom for a while which was one of the things he hated the most about his job. After watching her panic for a few minutes he was ready to break down next to her. Thankfully, he was a professional. Well, he liked to call himself that.

In the end they managed to get the girl to the hospital and left her in the doctors' care. It was 11:30 by then and Liam drove home in a tired daze.

  
Four days later Liam had a day off. It was miserably cold outside and somehow, instead of cuddling into his warm blanket and enjoying an evening in, he kept glancing out of the window and worrying about – Louis. He kept telling himself that he was being ridiculous and then he kept hoping that none of the prostitutes would be out in this weather and then he went back to worrying about the possibility that they were. And he imagined the scantily clad girls shivering in the cold but in the end he ended up worrying about Louis again. It was ridiculous. He didn't enjoy a minute of his precious free time.

At 5:30 PM he couldn't stand it anymore. It was already getting dark and he wasn't sure if there'd be anyone in the street before dark. He made a can of tea and put in in a flask, randomly picked two cups, put on a thick jacket and went out into the cold.

He decided to walk the last few metres to the street because he was a little worried about his car being stolen. He felt bad right after having the thought, but didn't change his mind. He didn't come across anyone for the first half of the street. Then there was one woman in a way too thin jacket who blinked at him but didn't approach him and turned away as soon as he'd passed her. He kept walking until he saw two people sitting under the dim light of a street lamp on the same wall he'd seen Louis at when he'd last been there. And getting closer, there was no mistaking them. Louis' red pants – Liam wondered if those were his only pants – stood out even in the dim light and the guy next to him was yet again wearing a leather jacket and holding a cigarette. Liam stopped in front of them.

“Wuh-, Liam”, Louis stuttered, no, he didn't stutter. His teeth were clattering and he was shivering because of the cold. He looked at Liam with a blank stare, not voicing his question.

“I brought tea”, Liam said and hurried to take the flask out of his bag. He took out the cups next, put them on the wall and filled them with the hot tea. He then handed one to Louis and the other one to the guy next to him. Louis took it with a confused smile, but the other guy frowned at Liam and ignored him. Louis rolled his eyes, took the cup and pushed it into his hands.

“Why the hell are you here? And why are you carrying tea?”, Louis finally asked, holding his cup with both hands and breathing in the warm steam.

“Uh, I was a little worried you'd be out here. Since it's pretty cold. So I thought I'd check.”

The guy next to Louis stared at him disbelieving before he turned his gaze to the wall opposite him again. Louis shook his head but was grinning amused.

“You're not even wearing a jacket. You're going to get sick”, Liam finally said. Louis was wearing a simple sweater. At least the guy next to him had his leather jacket..

“Naw, don't worry about that. Oh by the way, this is Zayn”, he pointed at his neighbor, “and Zayn, this is Liam. I told you about him already, but whatever.”

Zayn didn't look at Liam and ignored the introduction but Louis didn't seem to care, he sipped his tea and looked back to Liam, “So no date today?”

Liam groaned, “I'm never going on a date again anyway. There's no worse way to spend an evening.”

Louis laughed, “What? I think you got the definition of a date wrong. You usually use that word if you meet a person you fancy and have a fun night with them.”

“You also use that word if your best friend plans one double blind date after another with one horrible girl after another because he only cares about whether he likes the girl he's meeting.”

“Well, that doesn't sound like much fun”, Louis still looked pretty amused and didn't seem to pity Liam, “I know what'll be fun, though. Telling Niall and Harry that I saw you again and they missed you again. They'll be jealous as hell.”

“Are they alright, then?”, Liam asked carefully. Last time he'd seen those boys they hadn't been in good conditions.

“Fine. Though Harry's face still isn't completely healed which sucks a bit because he's really cute and having that nasty cut is distracting.”

Liam was relieved to see that Louis was still grinning. It seemed like he'd worried too much, after all.

A few minutes later he collected his cups and flask, got Louis to promise that he'd go home soon – which didn't sound very convincing or serious – and left in the direction of his car.

Thankfully, he was able to enjoy his free time after that, only worrying a bit when it started raining later that night. He was pretty sure Louis – and Zayn, too – would be home by then, though.


	3. Chapter 3

Liam had the early shift on the next morning. It was his least favorite shift because getting up at 5 AM was never easy, no matter how early he went to bed. It was a rather relaxed day, though, there were no horrible accidents he was called to and their patients all turned out fine and either didn't need to go to the hospital at all or arrived there in a good state. Liam's mood was good and he felt a lot more confident than usual. He enjoyed talking to the patients and his co-workers and time flew by. His shift ended at 2 PM and he actually made it to his car by 2:30 which was almost a personal record. He never got off on time, but that was normal.

After work he went to Andy's place. For once they had just planned to hang out and not go on a date again. Liam really looked forward to it, but when he arrived at his friend's apartment his mood was dimmed. He was greeted by a girl – one he didn't know and was one hundred percent sure Andy hadn't been on one of their double dates with – who told him that Andy was in the shower. Liam made himself comfortable on the sofa and turned on the TV while the girl disappeared into the bedroom. At least she was fully clothed.

A few minutes later Andy emerged from the bathroom, naked apart from a towel wrapped around his waist. He stopped in the middle of the living room when he spotted Liam, looking confused for a minute before he seemed to remember their plans and grinned at him.

“So”, Liam said, waiting for an explanation.

“I forgot. But she was about to leave anyway. Just give us a few minutes.”

Liam nodded and relaxed into the sofa. He gave up on finding a decent channel and started playing a game of Tetris on his phone.

Even after achieving a new high score and doubling his last one, which must have taken ages but he didn't know because he hadn't looked at the time, Andy wasn't back and Liam was starting to get impatient. Soon after realizing that, he also lost the game.

He put his phone back in his pocket and went to the bedroom door, ready to knock and ask what was taking so long when he heard the distinct sound of a screeching bed and female moans. He groaned.

He turned on the spot and headed for the front door, not bothering to leave a note or tell Andy that he was leaving. He was slowly getting fed up with his best friend's antics.

Liam wasn't a person who held grudges, so halfway to his home he was over his anger and stopped to buy a few snacks at the supermarket. On the way to his car he passed a small coffee shop, stopped and considered it for a while. Then he continued, put his purchases into the trunk and went back to the coffee shop.

He ended up buying three latte macchiatos because he had no idea what Louis or Zayn liked to drink. Then he spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to transport three cups in his car while driving, finally put them between his legs and drove way under the speed limit. That gave him enough time to wonder about what the hell he was even doing. He had no business worrying about people who he didn't even consider his friends – Well, actually the only person he considered his friend was Andy and in that moment he preferred even Zayn's company to Andy's, so he guessed he could just as well call Louis his friend.

  
When he arrived in the street he passed a woman who nodded at him in greeting. He did a double take but couldn't remember if he knew her and guessed he must have passed her the time before, and maybe even the time before that. He wondered if he should be worried about those people actually recognizing him. Then he felt bad about thinking about them as lesser people again and rolled his eyes at himself.

When he arrived at their usual spot, Louis was nowhere to be seen but Zayn was sitting there as usual, looking bored and smoking a cigarette. Instead of standing in front of the wall like he usually did, he took Louis' spot, put one of the mugs next to him and gave one to Zayn, who accepted it without a word or a glance in his direction. Well, Liam thought, that boy definitely lacked some manners. He shrugged and started sipping his own coffee, enjoying the peaceful silence for a few minutes.

“So, Louis' not here today?”, he finally asked after watching Zayn finish his cigarette and drink his coffee for a while. Zayn didn't even seem to notice his staring, or he didn't mind. Liam hated when people watched him that closely, especially when he was eating or drinking. It always made him nervous and he started fiddling around and usually ended up making a mess. Zayn just sat there and stared at nothing. And for the first time, Liam noticed how insanely pretty he really was. Not in the way he would have noticed a beautiful girl he was interested in. It was in an admiring way, because Zayn looked like a model and someone he shouldn't meet on a normal street – Let alone on this street doing what he obviously did.

“He's not here a lot of the time. You were lucky the last two times”, Zayn answered after a while and it was the first time he'd actually talked directly to Liam. He should have probably been bothered by that but instead it made him smile brightly. Zayn's voice sounded like it hadn't been used in a while. Liam didn't have a hard time imagining that because even when Louis was there, Zayn usually didn't say anything.

“Really? I kind of thought he's here every day. That's a relief then”, Liam said with a grin before cringing, “I mean, well,..”

“It is”, Zayn interrupted him without a change in his expression, “It's fine.”

Liam sighed, “So how often are you here?”

There was no answer. Zayn drank the last of his coffee and carelessly let the mug fall to the floor. Liam frowned at it, got up and picked it up to throw it in a trash can on his way back. When he looked up again, Zayn had raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on it. Liam smiled, “I like things clean. If everyone would pick up their own trash, we'd have an amazingly clean city.”

Zayn just shrugged and Liam sat back down next to him, “Do you want this one, too? It was supposed to be Louis' and I guess it's pretty cold by now, but if you want..”

Zayn took the mug from him and lit up another cigarette.

“You smoke a lot”, Liam said. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to comment on it.

Zayn hummed in response, tipping the mug from one side to the other. He looked like he was in deep thought. It was a good change from his usual blank expression, so Liam didn't interrupt him and took out his phone. He had a text from Andy, opened it and decided to ignore it when he didn't see the word 'sorry' at first glance. He put the phone back in his pocket.

“So, I never see any-”, Liam bit his lip. He hadn't planned to talk about that at all, “.. customers.”

Zayn actually turned his head and looked at him this time, “Of course you don't. They don't come near if someone's here. Could be someone they know. You're ruining the business for everyone.”

Zayn didn't seem angry or annoyed about either his question or the fact that he was 'ruining business', though, so Liam chose to ignore it. He didn't like thinking about Zayn's and Louis' job, it made him sad and a bit angry and most of all, it made him worry. And maybe it made him pity them, too.

“Why are you doing this?”, he finally got out. It was probably a lot safer to ask the question while Louis wasn't there. Zayn didn't seem to get angry about anything.

Zayn also seemed to like to ignore questions he didn't like, though. He kept smoking and didn't bother answering. Liam sighed. This was difficult.

“I'm a paramedic, by the way.”

Zayn nodded and Liam wondered if Louis had already told him that. He was also out of ideas to start a conversation.

“I was actually supposed to hang out with my best friend today. Andy, you've met him when I first came here. But he had a girl over and they chose to ignore me and had sex next door, so I left and ended up here.”

Zayn looked at him. Liam suddenly felt really awkward for mentioning sex and wondered if he would get Zayn to say anything to him anymore.

“That sucks.”

Liam grinned brightly and nodded.

  
Early the next morning he was woken up by a call. It was Andy – Of course it was Andy because apart from him, the only one who'd occasionally call Liam was his Mom and his Mom definitely wouldn't call at 3 AM – and Liam was a bit mad because he had to get up at 5 AM for yet another early shift. He still agreed to go on another double date, though and when he got up in the morning and thought back to the call he couldn't remember why he would ever agree to that. He was also slightly angry at himself because Andy still hadn't apologized for ditching him and Liam knew he would forgive him anyway.

Work that day was exhausting and when he got home at 4 PM, Liam was exhausted enough to crash onto his bed and fall asleep within minutes.

He was woken up when his phone rang again and of course it was Andy. He picked up and mumbled a “Hello?” without opening his eyes.

“Where the hell are you? We're supposed to meet the girls in 20 minutes and you wanted to meet me at my place before that!”

Liam winced at the volume of Andy's voice and looked toward his alarm clock. It said 8:11 PM. He sat up with a groan, “God, I'm sorry. I fell asleep and I need a shower. Can I just meet you at the restaurant?”

Andy reluctantly agreed but refused to get off the phone until he heard Liam's shower running to make sure he didn't go right back to sleep. Liam hurried through his shower – which was probably the shortest shower of his life and he didn't even know why he bothered with being on time – and picked out a random blue dress shirt. He snatched his jacket, keys and wallet and made it to his car within seconds.

When he arrived at the restaurant, Andy and two unfamiliar women were waiting out front. Liam checked his watch and was surprised that he was only 10 minutes late. He got out quickly and went to greet them.

The evening turned out to be fine for once. Andy seemed to be in a weird mood which Liam refused to feel responsible for, but the girls were nice. Even the girl that was supposed to be his date. They talked about his job for a long time before changing to her job which he was actually interested in because she was an interior designer and had some pretty hilarious stories about her clients to tell. After a while he noticed Andy and his date eating in silence and more or less listening to their conversation. He wondered if Andy usually felt as bad as he did whenever it was the other way around, but he decided that Andy probably didn't mind if Liam was uncomfortable or bored. Then he felt bad for thinking about his best friend like that and actively tried to include the two of them in the conversation. When they left an hour later he was pretty pleased with himself and the fact that he'd exchanged numbers with Diana – Diana, the interior designer.

On his way home he thought about visiting Zayn and Louis but after checking the time he decided it was too late and they were probably long gone. He was also really tired and just wanted to continue his afternoon nap.


	4. Chapter 4

Deciding against visiting Zayn and Louis one night turned into two nights, three nights and after a whole week of not going to see them he finally packed a flask full of tea and three cups and left.

When he arrived, none of the women he passed greeted him and he was surprised to be able to see Zayn and Louis from a distance. The street light seemed a lot brighter than it usually was. He waved at them and saw Louis waving back. He was pretty sure Zayn had turned to look at him, too.

“Hiya, old friend. I was nearly convinced you wouldn't show up again”, Louis greeted him with a wide grin. He was actually wearing a jacket – it was freezing cold and the middle of November for God's sake! - but it didn't look warm at all.

“Sorry, I was pretty busy with work. And I had a great date. It's nice to see you again, though,” Liam smiled back at him while filling one of the cups with hot tea.

“A great date? Tell me everything about it!”, Louis grabbed the first cup and impatiently shoved the next one to Zayn, “And hurry along with it, too. This is the most exciting thing that's happened today.”

“Uh, well, there's not much to tell. She's an interior designer, she's nice, she's a great story teller and I didn't text or call her after our date because I'm a coward.”

Louis rolled his eyes, “Well, that wasn't exciting at all.”

“What's so hard about texting her?”, Zayn suddenly asked and looked a bit confused.

Louis looked a lot more confused, though, and Liam found himself grinning brightly again because he absolutely loved to hear Zayn's voice. Then he shrugged, “I don't want to sound weird and I don't know if she wants to see me again or if she even enjoyed it as much as I did and basically I'm scared to meet her on my own. I don't do dates.”

“Yes, you only do double dates and expect them to suck”, Louis said waving it aside, “She can't have been that great if you don't want to call her.”

“She was great, though”, Liam said with a frown.

“Couldn't have been all that great”, Louis insisted.

It was Liam's time to roll his eyes and he looked at Zayn instead who looked as blank as always, sipping his coffee.

“So, Zayn told me you're not here that often,” he started, looking back at Louis, “Do you have a real job then?”

As soon as he'd let that out, he regretted it. Louis' face fell and even Zayn looked bothered. Liam wanted to slap himself.

“I mean, another job”, he hurriedly added.

“I do. I'm a waiter”, Louis answered tightly.

“But why do you do this, then?”, Liam wondered.

“Because we have to pay rent and if there isn't enough money at the end of the month,” Louis paused, “Or in the middle of the month, whatever - There aren't that many choices.”

“Don't Harry and Niall make money, too?”

“They do. But sometimes it's not enough.”

Liam chose to change the topic. He was pretty sure they wouldn't end up agreeing on that one.

  
In the end, he'd spent longer than ever standing in front of Louis and Zayn, talking about everything and nothing. He decided to leave when the cold made him shiver even through his thick coat and he wondered how the two in front of him were able to just sit on that wall in their ridiculously thin jackets. The thought of them being used to the cold made him sad. When he left, Louis joked about him 'not ruining their business' anymore and Liam looked at Zayn, wondering if he'd told Louis about their conversation from last time. That would've included Zayn actually talking, though, so he decided it had to be a coincidence and left with a wave.

The first thing he did when he got home was to take a hot shower. Then he decided to clean his apartment for a while. Before he knew it, it was late and he'd been cleaning for hours. That was normal for Liam, though. Once he started cleaning he wouldn't stop before his place was sparklingly clean.

When he finally went to bed, he fell asleep within seconds.

  
In the two weeks that followed his last visit, Liam found himself worrying about Louis and Zayn almost constantly. When he noticed the weather getting worse, his first thought was with them. When he put on his jacket in the morning, he started feeling bad for wearing it while they were freezing. When he was cuddled into his blankets in the evening, enjoying mild evening TV, he wondered if they were home or still sitting outside in the cold.

His visits became more regular and he found himself noticing a pattern for Louis' presence. Sometimes he visited two days in a row and in that case he knew that Louis wouldn't be there at least one of the evenings because Louis always took a break between spending his evenings with Zayn. He also noticed Louis only being there on week nights. It was always Liam and Zayn on weekends. When he had brought it up on a Saturday night, Zayn had only shrugged.

It was his first visit in December when he arrived in their street, got closer to the wall and for the first time didn't see Zayn sitting there. Louis was nowhere to be seen, either. Liam frowned and hurried closer. He wondered if Zayn was with a 'customer'. He'd never actually witnessed that and neither of the boys ever mentioned their work, which he was secretly glad for, but he knew it was only a matter of time until he didn't have perfect timing anymore. And it seemed like the day had come.

When he arrived at the wall and sat down his bag on it, he heard quiet talking to his left, towards the exit of the street. Confused, he went in the direction of the sound and where the wall ended, he saw both Louis and Zayn on the floor. Liam's eyes widened.

Zayn was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall with his head buried in his knees. It was the exact position he had first found Niall in, that day in October. And Louis was on his knees next to Zayn, his arms around his shoulders. It looked way too much like the position Harry had been in back then. Liam felt panic rise in his chest and crouched down in front of Louis. Neither of them had showed a sign of noticing him yet.

“What happened? What's wrong?”, Liam asked, fearing the answer.

Louis' head shot up, his surprised gaze on Liam. When he recognized him, he visibly relaxed and gave him a thin-lipped smile, “I don't know. I have no freaking idea. He's sick and there was this guy who looked like bad news – You know, there are some kinds of guys you just know you shouldn't be alone with – and he came back and he was like this.”

Liam gently took Zayn's head in his hands and lifted it. He bit his lip when he saw how pale his friend was, his worry getting worse when he noticed tear stains under his eyes. He wiped them away with the tips of his thumbs, “Zayn? Look at me. Are you okay?”, he asked in a whisper.

To his surprise, Zayn opened his eyes. They were red, unfocused and his pupils dilated. There was no answer, but Zayn's eyes stayed locked to his own and if he concentrated enough, he could make out a smile. It was only then that he noticed how hot Zayn's cheeks were, his hands still cupping them. He lifted his right hand to Zayn's forehead instead and hissed. Yes, Zayn was definitely sick. He seemed to be leaning into Liam's touch, probably relieved by the icy cold of his hands. Liam held his position and turned towards Louis, “He has to get away from here. He needs a bed and a blanket and some hot tea.”

Louis frowned, “I have no idea where he lives.”

Liam groaned. Of course. He should have expected that. It only took a second of hesitance before he found himself on his feet, carefully lifting Zayn into a standing position. He managed to get a hold around his waist and nodded to Louis, “Could you take my bag? You look like you need to warm up, too. You should definitely come.”

Louis stood up, glanced at Zayn and nodded before taking off. He picked up Liam's bag from the wall and waited for Liam to guide Zayn next to him. Then he took Zayn's arm and they made their way to Liam's car – Which he'd unfortunately parked quite a distance away again. Louis seemed to notice that, too, judging by his amused lifted eyebrow when they finally arrived and stumbled onto the seats. Liam rolled his eyes, helped Zayn into the back and got into the driver's seat. Louis took the seat next to Zayn, stroking his hair gently.

The warmness inside the car seemed to get to Zayn after a while and when they arrived at the building Liam lived in, he hesitated to go inside. Louis gave him a push and Liam grabbed his arm instead, helping him up the stairs.

They entered his apartment and he contemplated putting Zayn onto the sofa, but decided against it in the end. He went into his guest bedroom slash study instead, where Zayn fell onto his guest sofa. After the exhaustion of climbing up the stairs, he didn't even open his eyes to look at the unfamiliar surroundings. Liam went to his bedroom, got his blanket and tugged Zayn in closely.

When he stepped into the living room again, Louis was standing in front of the TV, looking at the photographs on the TV stand. Liam cleared his throat, “Do you want some tea? Since you're here, you can even choose which one you want.”

Louis nodded and followed him into the kitchen. Liam showed him his tea assortment – which he was admittedly a little proud of – and Louis chuckled before choosing one. It had seemed much too random for Liam's taste, but he filled the electric kettle anyway, listening to it warming up. Louis stood next to him, looking a little lost, his eyes wandering around the kitchen. His expression was hard to read.

  
Half an hour later, Louis was sitting on the sofa in the living room zapping through the TV channels while Liam was kneeling next to Zayn in case he decided to throw up the pills he'd just given him. He seemed to have fallen back asleep, though and Liam found himself watching him in awe again. Life definitely wasn't fair if someone as beautiful as Zayn lived a life like that. If someone who looked as innocent and peaceful in their sleep had to sell their body every day. Liam gently stroked Zayn's cheek and got up, deciding to let his guest rest. Thanks to the medication, it should be a restful and long sleep.

Liam sat down next to Louis, who'd stopped at a cooking channel and was watching it with a smile. Liam frowned, “Do you enjoy watching this? That must be the most boring show you could have found.”

Louis grinned, “Harry loves watching stuff like this. We can't really afford to cook fancy meals, but if we could, he'd probably try all of that. Or start his own show, even.”

“You could do so much better, too”, Liam sighed with a sad look at Louis' fond expression, which quickly changed into a guarded smile.

“I probably won't be doing that much longer”, he said after a while.

“You found a better job?”, Liam asked hopefully.

“No. Niall turned 18 a few weeks ago and he's been applying everywhere like crazy. It's only a matter of time until he finds something. People love Niall.”

“But you said Niall and Harry already had jobs.”

“Not real jobs”, Louis sighed, “Because nobody wants to hire minors who quit school and can't even bring a parent's consent. Everyone sent them away. They quit applying a long time ago.”  
  
Liam frowned. He thought back to that day in October, listening in on Harry's phone conversation with Louis, him mentioning 'selling' somewhere he wasn't allowed to. He looked at Louis again, who was watching the cook without much interest.

“Do they sell drugs?”, Liam asked carefully.

“They only sell weed. Nothing worse. And only as much as they really need to.”

“And since Niall's 18 now and can get a job, they can stop doing that? And you can stop, too?”

Louis shrugged, “We all hope so. Who knows. Don't want to get my hopes high for nothing.”

“What about Harry?”, Liam asked.

“What about him? There's still three months left until he turns 18. I think once he is, we'll be way better off.”

“How old is Zayn?”

Louis turned to him, shaking his head in confusion, “Where did that come from?”

“Just wondering”, Liam muttered.

“I'm not sure, actually. He's younger than me”, Louis shrugged.

“How old are you then?”

“Going to be 21 soon”, Louis said with a frown, “Which sucks and I don't want you to mention it ever again. Thanks in advance.”

“Why does being 21 suck?”, Liam asked just as confused, “I'm 21, too.”

“Because I'll be freaking 21 years old and dating a 17-year-old!”, Louis exclaimed as if it was obvious.

“You're dating someone?”, Liam asked even more confused.

“Duh”, Louis shook his head, “Harry's my boyfriend. Did I never mention that?”

Liam blinked, “Nope. Must have slipped your mind.”

Louis grinned brightly, “Well, Harry's my boyfriend. Now you know.”

“But Harry's 17! He's so young!”, Liam's eyes widened.

“Well, we started dating when he was 15. That was young.”

“15? But that's not even legal! How did that happen?”

“Don't worry, we didn't have sex until he was 16. Everything more than that is ridiculous. He knows what he's doing. Whatever”, Louis chuckled, seemingly amused by Liam's shocked reaction.

“What about Niall, then?”

“What about Niall?”, Louis repeated.

“How does he fit into the picture?”

“He started out as Harry's best friend and now he's basically mine, too. Since we all live together and that.”

Liam nodded, still trying to imagine Harry and Louis dating. It wasn't even that weird, he decided. Three years wasn't much of an age gap – At least it wouldn't be much of an age gap in a few years, as soon as Harry wasn't a minor anymore.

“You know, I stopped mentioning you to them”, Louis said after a while, his eyes still locked onto the TV.

Liam hummed questioningly.

“Niall and Harry. I told them I'd ran into you and they really wanted to meet you again. I told them the second time, too, but after that I didn't anymore. Didn't want them to get bad ideas”, Louis explained.

“What kind of ideas?”

“Like, going there to see you. I don't want them in that part of my life.”

Liam nodded, looking at Louis' rather sad expression and back to the TV, where the cook was preparing dessert.

“Call them and tell them to come here. Or to tell me where they are, I'll go pick them up”, Liam finally said, wondering where it had even come from.

Louis looked just as surprised as he felt, “Really?”, but then his face fell, “We'd have to leave Zayn here on his own. I don't think that's a good idea.”

Liam lifted an eyebrow, “Why? You'd be here with him.”

Louis turned towards him again, “You'd leave me here. On my own, in your apartment, with an unconscious Zayn I could always just leave behind to disappear with all your valuables.”

He sounded disbelieving.

“Promise you won't steal my stuff, then. I'd always have your boyfriend and best friend to bargain with anyway, so it wouldn't be a good deal for you, would it?”, Liam grinned.

Louis shook his head and grinned back at him, “Alright. I promise not to steal anything. I'll go sit with Zayn until you're back.”

Liam nodded and handed him his phone, guessing that Louis didn't carry one. Louis took it with a nod and typed in a number, pressing 'call' and lifting it to his ear. Liam felt like a creep watching him.

“Hiya love, it's me”, Louis said after a while, a happy smile forming on his face. Liam laughed quietly.

“Nope, I'm quite alright. Just checking if you'd be interested in meeting Liam ag-..”, he laughed and rolled his eyes at Liam, “Yes, I'm being serious. Tell him where to pick you up and you'll meet me at his place.”

After that, the phone call ended quickly and Louis gave him the name of a park near the street he'd let them out back in October. Liam was confident he'd find that park without using his navigation, put on his jacket and shoes, grabbed his keys and phone and waved at Louis.


	5. Chapter 5

The ride to the park was short and the streets were clear. It was still pretty early but already completely dark. That was one thing Liam strongly disliked about winter. He found a spot to park his car and went to wait at the front gates of the park.

A few minutes later he saw them running in his direction. Harry arrived first, smiling the widest smile Liam had ever seen on anyone and jumping him for a tight hug, slightly spinning him around in a circle.

“Liam! It's so wonderful to see you. Thank you so much, thank you so-so-so much for helping us back then!”, he rambled excitedly after letting go of Liam who only smiled back, giving Harry a once-over and thankfully not seeing any injuries.

Niall approached him next, more careful than Harry but hugged him just as tightly, muttering a “Nice to see you” before letting go and stepping back to grin at him. Liam grinned back.

Shortly after their reunion, they climbed into Liam's car and he drove back home. Harry was chattering about something or another in the passenger seat while Niall was admiring his car from the back seat. Liam almost felt bad again, because his car really wasn't special or extraordinarily expansive. The boys' good mood quickly rubbed up on him and by the time they arrived at his front door, he was laughing with them.

After entering, Louis came out of the guest bedroom slash study and greeted Harry with a hug followed by a sweet peck on the lips. Liam felt the need to turn away but stopped himself. Then he gave Niall a tight hug and grinned at Liam, “I was perfectly behaved, sitting next to Zayn – which was pretty boring because man, he's in a deep sleep – and didn't steal a thing.”

Harry looked confused for a second but started smiling again quickly, bombarding Liam with questions about how his life had been after saving them back then and how his job was and how he was feeling.. Liam blinked and tried to answer all of them.

  
It was nice to talk to Harry, Niall and Louis. Liam tried to remember the last time he had felt as relaxed as he did then, sitting on his armchair while the other three shared the sofa, Louis' head in Harry's Lap and Niall's legs across Louis'. It was nice to tell them about his patients, about his co-workers who enjoyed giving him the tasks everyone hated because he was the youngest and didn't dare complaining. It was also nice to listen to Niall telling him about life with Louis and Harry, which was obviously really exciting. Liam wondered if instead of pitying, he should start envying them because they seemed so happy.

Harry was in the middle of explaining how they'd ended up in their shared apartment when Zayn stepped into the living room. The poor guy looked completely lost and his gaze wandered from Liam to Louis to Niall to Harry and back to Louis. He was still awfully pale but looked a lot less sick and Liam caught himself staring again.

“Zaynie! How are you feeling?”, Louis shouted, jumping to a stand and throwing an arm around Zayn's shoulder. He gave him a reassuring smile and Zayn shrugged. Liam grinned at the familiarity of the movement.

“Oh, right, these are Harry and Niall”, Louis continued, pointing at the two boys on the sofa, “I think I told you about them before.”

Zayn raised an eyebrow and nodded. Liam's grin widened. He could imagine perfectly how Louis must have ranted about the two of them for hours. He himself had heard a lot about them whenever he visited their street.

Liam got up and nudged Zayn towards the armchair, “Go sit there. I'll make some more tea”, he ordered.

Zayn sat down reluctantly. He looked so uncomfortable Liam wanted to give him a hug as tight as the ones he'd received from Harry and Niall earlier. He shook his head at himself. Zayn didn't seem to be someone who enjoyed physical contact at all.

When Liam came back to his guests a few minutes later, carrying a steaming cup of tea for Zayn, Niall and Louis were bickering quietly while Harry was looking at the pictures on his TV stand reminding him strongly of Louis. Zayn was just sitting in the armchair, trying hard not to meet anyone's eyes. Liam handed him his tea with a reassuring smile and sat down on the coffee table. Zayn looked ready to get up to give him his spot back but Liam gave him a pointed look and he stayed seated.

“Are those your sisters?”, Harry asked curiously, pointing at a family picture taken on Liam's graduation day, “Somehow they don't look like you at all. Your Dad looks exactly like you, though. If that's your Dad.”

Liam chuckled, “I get that a lot. Ruth and Nicola look like my Mom, I look like my Dad. People never think we're related.”

“And who's this?”, Harry pointed at the picture next to it, which showed Nicola with her husband and baby daughter.

“That's my adorable niece, Maisie. Isn't she perfect?”, Liam looked at the picture dreamily. He loved that baby girl and he regretted that his sister had chosen to live an hour drive away, so he got to see her a lot less than he'd wish he did.

“She's very cute”, Harry nodded, not seeming fazed. Liam rolled his eyes.

“How old is she?”, Zayn suddenly asked, his voice sounding raspy and strained. Liam turned in surprise and found that Zayn was looking at the picture with honest interest.

“She's 8 months old!”, Liam answered excitedly.

“I have a nine months old nephew”, Zayn said and let his gaze fall back to his cup, ending the conversation.

Liam gasped, “You do? So you have siblings?”, he asked with a wide smile. Zayn only nodded. Liam frowned disappointed but chose to get back to the topic another time.

“Anyone hungry?”, he asked instead. Everyone's attention snapped towards him. Niall shouted a happy “Yes!” while Louis and Harry nodded, identical fond grins on their faces.

Liam chuckled and got up to search for a take out menu. They always arrived in the mail and he usually dumped them somewhere never to be seen again. After a while of rustling through cupboards he ended up with only one single flyer. He shrugged and handed it to Niall, deciding that a pizzeria was fine enough and usually had something everyone would enjoy.

Niall took it hesitantly, “But we can't really afford to order in”, he mumbled with a frown, looking down at the flyer sadly.

“My treat”, Liam shrugged.

Niall looked up at him, seemingly torn between guilt and excitement. Then he smiled brightly and started reading through the different dishes listed. Harry and Louis soon joined him, reading over his shoulders and discussing if they were feeling more like pasta or pizza. In the end, they decided to get both and share them.

“I'll have the Pizza Classica!”, Niall exclaimed and handed the flyer to Liam, who nodded and handed it to Zayn, already knowing his order by heart. Zayn only blinked at him and shook his head, sipping at his tea. Liam wondered if it was only his imagination or if Zayn suddenly looked a lot paler than before. He probably felt too sick to eat fast food anyway. Liam tried to remember if there was any instant soup left in his kitchen cupboards. He'd have to check for that.

He took his phone, typed in the number and ordered their food. Niall had gotten up and was pacing the room in excitement, stopping to look at Liam's – embarrassingly small – collection of DVDs and books as well as the photographs.

“You know, I have a baby nephew, too”, he said offhandedly.

Even Louis and Harry looked surprised at that, sharing a confused frown.

“I've never actually met him, but my brother sometimes sends me pictures. He's pretty adorable. I think he's about 6 months old or something”, Niall continued.

“Why have you never met him?”, Liam asked sadly. He couldn't imagine not knowing his niece. Whenever he skyped with his sister he had a hard time looking at Maisie through the computer screen and not being able to hold and cuddle her.

“They live in Ireland”, Niall explained with a shrug.

“Oh, so you're from Ireland?”, Liam asked, “That would explain your accent.”

Niall nodded, “Came here for an exchange program. That's how I met Harry, by the way. And when it was over, I decided to stay and never went back.”

Liam hissed, “But don't you miss your family? Parents? Friends?”

“Naw, not really”, Niall grinned and went back to the sofa to squeeze himself in between Harry and Louis who instantly made room for him, Harry ruffling his hair fondly.

“I'm going to check if I have some soup for Zayn. Feel free to change the TV channel or something, I think Louis has the remote figured out alright.”

Liam smiled at Zayn when he passed him, but he was looking at the floor and didn't notice it. Maybe he hadn't even heard Liam.

  
Thankfully there was some instant chicken soup in his cupboard that seemed fresh enough to offer to someone. Liam filled a pot with water and turned on the stove, quietly humming a tune. He grinned when he heard playful shouting in the next room. It was nice to have company. He couldn't even remember the last time he had friends over to just hang out like this.

When the water started boiling, he stirred the soup into it and let it simmer for a while, looking for a cup and spoon, which he hesitantly took out of the box. He didn't like spoons, never had. He forced himself to be a man for once, ignoring the need to cringe and filled the cup with soup before carrying it into the living room, setting it down on the coffee table and laying the spoon next to it.

“Zayn, here's some soup for you. I think you'll feel a lot better if you eat something and this shouldn't make you sick”, he said.

Zayn lifted his head and frowned in confusion, eying the soup with slight disgust but nodding anyway. Liam hoped he'd at least eat a bit of it. He was about to point that out when the door bell rang, announcing the arrival of the rest of their food.

He went to get his wallet while Niall jumped up to open the door and take the food into the living room. When Liam arrived at the door, the delivery man was empty-handed and looked distinctly annoyed. Liam handed him the money with a tight smile, closed the door and joined the others in the living room.

Louis and Harry had already opened their food containers, both trying the pasta while Niall was munching on his first piece of pizza.

Liam looked at Zayn and tilted his head, “Do you want to lie back down for a while, Zayn? You don't look well”, he suggested.

To his surprise Zayn nodded and got up, struggling for a moment before disappearing into the guest bedroom slash study. Liam took his soup and followed him, setting the cup down on the floor next to the bed.

“Maybe you'll feel like eating this after resting a bit”, he said gently, “I'm sure it will make you feel better.”

“Thanks”, Zayn mumbled, pulling the covers over himself.

Liam nodded and went back to the living room to start eating his own pizza, noticing a piece of it missing and looking up in confusion.

Niall grinned apologetically and pointed to his hand, which held the half-eaten piece, “You can have one of mine if you want to.”

Liam laughed and shook his head.

  
It turned out to be one of the most entertaining nights of his life. Liam had never had many friends and wasn't very experienced in hanging out with a group of people. He found himself enjoying to listen to the others talking within themselves just as much as he enjoyed joining the conversations. It wasn't awkward, it wasn't forced and he freely talked about the things he liked without fearing to be rejected or ridiculed like he usually did when he talked to Andy or his family. Louis was constantly making fun of Liam, but it was in a joking way and he was doing the exact same to Niall, and to a certain degree even to Harry.

Around 1 AM he noticed that he was slumped on the armchair, yawning regularly and blinking at the others without contributing much to the conversation. He wasn't used to being up late when he wasn't working and the excitement of the evening left him feeling comfortable and tired. The others had gotten quieter during the last hour, too, Harry and Louis huddled together leaning on each other. Niall looked unfazed by the late hour but without anyone to bicker with, he'd started paying attention to the TV and changed the channel every few minutes.

“Do you want me to drive you home?”, Liam finally asked, watching how Harry's head was resting on Louis' shoulder, his eyes dangerously close to drooping closed.

“Uh, that would be nice. But what about Zayn?”, Louis asked.

“I'll tell him and he'll be fine. It doesn't take that long and he'll probably sleep through it anyway”, Liam shrugged.

“So you'll let him spend the night?”, Louis sounded relieved.

“Of course. Did you expect me to throw him out in the middle of the night?”, Liam asked with a raised eyebrow.

Louis grinned sheepishly and nudged Harry to keep him from falling asleep. Liam got up, stretched himself for a second and tip-toed into the guest bedroom.

Zayn was turned towards the wall, completely covered by the thick blanket except for the very top of his head. Liam noticed that he must have eaten about half of the soup and he felt embarrassingly happy about that.

“Zayn?”, he whispered, stepping closer to the sofa.

There was no movement at all and he pursed his lips in thought. He decided it wasn't really worth waking Zayn up just to tell him that he'd drive the others home. He picked up a piece of paper from his desk, found a pen somewhere in the chaos – the desk was always the only part of the apartment he put off tidying up – and wrote a quick note to stick to the inside of the room's door. That way Zayn wouldn't be confused in case he got up while Liam was gone. With another fond look at the heap of blanket on his sofa, Liam doubted it and went back into the living room.

“All settled. You lot ready to leave?”, he asked with a clap.

Harry groaned and lifted himself up off Louis' shoulder slowly. Liam went to take his keys, put on his shoes and jacket and waited for everyone to assemble in front of the door. They went down the stairs quietly and Liam shivered as soon as they got out into the cold December night.

“Crap, it's freezing!”, Niall complained in front of him, jumping up and down and putting on the hood of his jacket. They hurried to his car, but inside the vehicle it was just as cold as outside and the leather seats felt like ice through his jeans. Liam turned on the heat on full power and rubbed his hands together, pulling out of the parking spot.

Niall had taken the passenger seat this time, testing out the radio's control buttons and changing the channels just like he'd done with the TV back inside. He seemed restless.

Thankfully, the inside of the car heated up quickly and when they arrived back at the park he'd picked Niall and Harry up at earlier, he turned it down and got out with the other three.

“It was wonderful to see you again. We have to do that again soon, alright?”, Harry gave him a tight hug and hopeful smile.

Liam nodded and was jumped by Niall next, who buried his face into Liam's neck.

Louis was last, chuckling quietly, “I'm going to see you soon anyway, right?”, he asked confidently.

Liam blushed and nodded again. He was certain he'd be back to visiting Zayn and Louis as soon as they were back to sitting at their wall.

He watched the three of them until they went around a corner and out of his sight before getting back into the car, sighing contently at the warmth.

A few minutes later he was back in his eerily quiet apartment, throwing away empty food containers and turning off the TV. He checked on Zayn one last time, removing the note from the door and leaving a bottle of water and a glass next to the soup on the floor.

Then he brushed his teeth, fell into his back and noticed belatedly that he didn't have a blanket to cover himself. He blushed when he thought about how long it had been since he'd changed his sheets and how Zayn was cuddled into that blanket. Then he groaned at himself and went to fetch the woolen blanket he kept on his sofa in the living room, curling up on his bed again. It took him a while to fall asleep, not being used to the thought of someone being in the apartment anymore. The last time that happened, he had still been living with his parents. He didn't ever have overnight guests in his apartment.

He dreamed the wildest dreams and woke up countless times all through the night. It was unfamiliar to him, who usually slept like a stone until his alarm clock woke him up in the morning. He tossed and turned for hours and only found restful sleep when the room was lit up by the dawning winter morning sun.


	6. Chapter 6

Liam woke up really late the next day and was immensely relieved that he had the late shift that day. He cringed and shuddered trying to imagine being late to work. It took him a while until he remembered Zayn spending the night and his gaze flew to his alarm clock. It was already 11:30 AM. Zayn had to have woken up by then after all the sleep he'd gotten during the last 24 hours. Liam got up quickly, changed into a presentable outfit and stepped into the living room carefully. There was nobody to be seen, though. He checked the kitchen next, frowning when it looked exactly like he'd left it the night before. He filled the electric kettle to make some tea and finally approached the guest bedroom, knocking carefully and opening the door.

He blinked in surprise when he saw Zayn still lying on the sofa, seemingly fast asleep. He stepped out quietly, finished making the tea and ate some cereal for breakfast while drinking a cup of it. Then he took a shower – Uncomfortably trying to not let his mind wander because honestly, there was just a guy sleeping in his apartment! It wasn't like he was actually inside the bathroom with him and still Liam flushed and couldn't stop thinking about how close Zayn was – and changed again.

When he next went into the guest bedroom, Zayn was blinking at him tiredly, still cuddled into the blanket.

“Good Morning”, Liam said with a gentle smile and blushed when he thought back to his shower, “How are you feeling today?”

“Better”, Zayn mumbled hoarsely, not moving to get up at all.

“I'm going to have to leave for work in a bit more than an hour. Do you want to take a shower? I should have a spare tooth brush, too. Oh, and I'll definitely have some clothes to lend to you”, Liam rambled hesitantly.

Zayn's expression was hard to read, but he lifted himself into a sitting position and nodded.

“Great, the bathroom is next door. I'll get some clothes and a towel and put them in there. I'll prepare some breakfast while you're getting ready. Do you feel up to eating something solid or should I make some more soup?”

God, Liam was embarrassed of himself. And even worse, Zayn was obviously completely unfazed and not bothered by the awkward situation. He didn't wait for an answer, hurrying into his bedroom to get some clothes before Zayn actually got up and he'd have to enter the bathroom while he was inside. He felt himself blush again.

Searching for clothes to lend his guest turned out to be a really hard task. It was easy to pick a random pair of sweat pants and a warm hoodie, but after that he was torn between leaving it at that and the fact that Zayn needed underwear. God, he was mortified. He didn't have new underwear. The thought of giving Zayn his worn briefs was horrifying itself, but the possibility of him actually deciding to put them on.. Liam ruffled his hair in desperation. He took a deep breath, picked a pair of briefs and socks as well as a towel and went to the bathroom to leave it before he could change his mind and despair any more about it.

He looked into the guest room again, Zayn still sitting on the bed.

“Everything's inside, feel free to use whatever you need”, Liam said hurriedly and practically ran into the kitchen to pour himself some more tea. He needed to calm down. He could feel how hot his face was and imagined how bright red he had to look. Then he heard the bathroom door closing and dropped his head onto the desk with a bang. It hurt and he did it again to spite himself. He shouldn't have given Zayn his underwear. Hell, how much more creepy could he get? This was the worst day of his life.

Then he heard the shower running and couldn't help thinking about a naked Zayn – He frowned at himself for imagining something he hadn't even seen before – so he decided to get ready for work way too early just to have something to do.

  
When Zayn left the bathroom a while later, Liam had finally calmed down and smiled at him. Zayn's hair was wet and toweled, Liam's clothes baggy around his slim stature. He was carrying his own bundled clothes under his arm.

“Oh, I'll lend you a bag for your stuff,” Liam announced and went into his bedroom to search for a bag in his closet. He found a simple black backpack and handed it to Zayn who carelessly stuffed his clothes into it and set it down next to the front door.

On second glance, Zayn was very pale. He was also moving slowly and his hands were unsteady.

Liam stepped into the bathroom and took out some pills against fever and pain. He gave them to Zayn with a firm look, “Take one at a time. 6 hours before taking one again.”

Zayn nodded and stuffed them into the backpack, too. Liam pointed towards the kitchen, “Come drink a cup of tea. I'm sure we'll find some food for you, too.”

Zayn followed him, took the tea and refused to eat anything. Liam gave him a worried frown again.

“I don't think I'll be comfortable letting you leave without getting you to eat something first,” he sighed, “So please? It doesn't have to be much.”

“I feel like I'm going to be sick if I eat anything,” Zayn mumbled in a hoarse voice.

“Do you feel that bad? Maybe you should go lie back down. I wouldn't mind having you stay here..”

Zayn shook his head incredulously, putting his empty cup into the sink and pointing his head in the direction of the front door. Liam glanced at the door and took a deep breath, giving in because he had to leave for work.

The drive to Zayn's place was quiet and full of tension. Liam kept sending Zayn worried glances he refused to acknowledge.

The part of town Zayn had led him to wasn't as bad as Liam had imagined. It was mainly filled with average sized apartment complexes and the occasional office building. Zayn told him to stop in front of one of the smaller complexes.

“You live here?”, Liam asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Zayn nodded, “Thanks. For everything.”

Liam smiled and waved it off, “I consider us friends. This is what friends do.”

Zayn looked surprised for a moment and then a small smile formed on his lips. He took the backpack, opened the door and stepped out, leaning towards the car as if he wanted to say something else, but in the end he only gave Liam a slight wave and closed the door. He walked towards the building and Liam pulled onto the street again, turning around and driving off. He already missed having company. His car suddenly seemed eerily quiet, even though there hadn't been any more sound with Zayn in it. He turned on the radio, listening to the news without much interest.

  
When Liam got home in the evening, he spent the first hour cleaning his apartment until it was absolutely spotless. He microwaved himself some dinner, ate it directly out of the container while restlessly pacing in his kitchen and ended up sitting on the sofa in his guest room, relentlessly keeping himself from burying his face into the blanket to smell it. He wouldn't let himself start acting like a creep. He refused to do that.

Stopping his thoughts from worrying about Zayn was a whole other story, though. Somehow he had a really bad feeling about letting him go home. That was ridiculous of course because they weren't nearly close enough to let him stay at his apartment at all, let alone for more than one night. They weren't close enough for him to be worrying like he did, either.

Liam couldn't help himself. After forcing himself to stay inside his apartment for another hour or something, he couldn't stand it anymore and got ready to go to their street. He had to make sure Zayn was resting properly. And even if it turned out that he had been worrying about nothing, there was a chance of Louis being there. Louis was great company. And if it turned out that both of them weren't there, Liam would happily go home again knowing they were inside their warm apartments instead.

He arrived at the street, finding it empty at first. That was normal, he'd noticed it before. Louis had explained that most of the women came a lot less regularly during the cold winter nights and made up for it by spending weeks on end outside when it was warm. Liam found that to be very reasonable. He hated that Louis hadn't included himself or Zayn in that statement, though.

When he neared the wall, he saw someone sitting there. His face fell, worry settled in and he silently prayed for it to be Louis. Of course it wasn't. He'd never met Louis out here on his own.

Zayn was sitting on the wall, his knees pulled close to his body, his arms around him and his head on his knees. He was still wearing Liam's hoodie, his leather jacket thrown over it. He'd changed into black jeans, though. Liam didn't have to get very close to see him shivering.

“What the hell are you doing out here?”, he asked, unable to keep the angry tone out of his voice, “You're already sick! Have you lost your mind?”

Zayn looked up slowly, blinking at him and lowering his head onto his knees without answering. Liam huffed, took off his coat and threw it over Zayn's shoulders, pulling the hood up over his head.

Zayn looked up again, this time in surprise. Liam frowned, “I'm not going to let you freeze to death out here. You're insane. This is ridiculous.”

He put an arm around Zayn's shoulders, sitting on the wall next to him, forcefully keeping him from shrugging off Liam's coat. Zayn gave him an exasperated look, finally looking him straight in the eye.

“So you're going to freeze instead?”

Liam cringed. Zayn's voice sounded even worse than it had done in the morning and he looked pained, coughing into his hand with tightly closed eyes.

“I'd rather you'd agree to accompany me to my car so neither of us has to freeze,” Liam sighed.

Zayn actually looked as if he was contemplating it before shaking his head slowly, “Go home. I'll go home, too. On my own.”

Liam didn't believe him. He shook his head resolutely. No way was he going to leave and trust Zayn to not stay there. He leaned back against the wall behind his back, shivering in his jumper.

“Don't. I can't take this right now,” Zayn whispered and Liam wasn't sure if he looked angry or pleading, “I'm feeling like shit. I won't get any money today. I will go home, but I won't get into your car.”

Liam felt a little bad for making him talk when it obviously hurt.

“Why won't you get into my car?”, he asked anyway. Did Zayn not trust him to take him home? Or was he really fed up with Liam's company?

Instead of answering, Zayn laid his head back down on his elbows and closed his eyes. He suddenly looked peaceful. Then he was shaken by a fit of coughs that sent a tear running down his cheek. Liam gently swiped it away with the palm of his hand. He was so, so worried. And he didn't know what to do.

“You really promise you're going to go home? I could at least walk you for a while.”

Zayn looked up again, looking ready to refuse before nodding and rolling his eyes. He stood up slowly and started taking off Liam's coat again, but Liam stopped him and bent down to zip it up instead.

“I have heating in my car. I won't let you walk home without a proper jacket,” he said, shutting Zayn up by turning around and starting to walk to the exit of the street. He heard Zayn following him and smiled. Seemed like he'd won that argument then.

Zayn didn't let Liam accompany him for long until he stopped walking and looked at him expectantly. Liam sighed but nodded in defeat, “Drink some warm tea, get lots of rest and don't you dare try to come back here for at least a weak!”

Zayn raised an eyebrow and Liam knew he wouldn't listen. There was nothing he could do about it, though, so he returned Zayn's wave of goodbye and watched him walk away until he reached the next corner. Then he hurried to his car to get out of the biting cold, wincing at the icy feeling of his leather seats again. He made a promise to himself to get his seats covered to avoid that in the future.

  
By the time Liam got back into his apartment it was almost midnight, he got ready for bed in a daze and remembered his blanket in the last minute. He hesitantly got it off the sofa in the guest bedroom and threw it back onto his bed. He hesitated again before he turned off the lights and fell into it himself. The blanket did smell faintly different but it wasn't much. Liam shook his head at himself when he noticed that he was actually slightly disappointed about that. He'd looked forward to burying himself in Zayn's scent, maybe encouraging his dreams to-..

No. He wasn't going there. He groaned, turned around and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his mind to be as blank as possible until sleep finally set in.

It was a dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

His alarm woke him up at 1 PM the next day and he groggily turned it off, blinking into the surprisingly bright room. He didn't feel rested at all, despite having twelve solid hours of sleep and not remembering waking up during it. He sat up before his body had a chance to fall back asleep. There was no way he was going to be late for work and he had to leave at 1:45 if he wanted to be in time.

It took him a few minutes to motivate himself to get up and walk to his dresser. He stopped in the middle of the room, his gaze locked onto the window. No freaking wonder it was that bright in the room, the outside world was completely covered in white. Liam felt a smile forming on his face, stepping to the window excitedly. It was the first snow of the year. He loved snow, had always loved it.

  
Liam wasn't all that sure if he still loved snow when he was driving through the city way slower than the speed limit because the streets were ridiculously slick and he was gliding more than driving for most of the way.

He wasn't an angry driver and didn't lose his calm a lot, but it wasn't like it was snowing in freaking September – It was December. People should have been prepared for it and the streets should definitely be cleared.

Somehow he still made it to work on time, being one of the few who'd managed that at all. Many of his co-workers hadn't shown up by the time they were called to their first car accident, so he left with a crew that was way too small for the scale of the accident. He knew it was only the beginning of what would be a long, long day. Or probably week. The accidents always piled on during the first days of snow until people remembered how to drive carefully.

He was right in his assumption, there was no time for breaks or to warm himself up between patients. When they weren't taking care of someone, driving someone to the hospital or waiting for fire services to aid them with car wrecks, they were driving dangerously fast towards their next patients. He was running on empty after the first half of his shift and there was no way he was going to get home in time.

His shift should have ended at 10 PM, but when he was checking his watch at midnight, finally having the time to eat a sandwich while they were driving towards the highway, he knew he was going to at least finish the night shift, too. He wasn't going to get any sleep until morning.

  
Liam arrived at his apartment at 5 AM the next morning, not bothering to do anything but shrug of his shoes and coat and falling into his bed in full work attire. He was out cold in seconds, knowing for a fact that the next day wouldn't be any easier. Still his last thought was with Zayn, wondering if he was following Liam's directions and getting lots of rest. He also realized he wouldn't be able to go visit him for the next few days and accordingly wouldn't be able to check if he was spending his nights outside.

  
Liam's assumptions had turned out to be true and he was busy with work for the next few days. Even though he wanted to, there was no way he would have been able to make a visit to Zayn and Louis.

It was more than a week later when he finally got home from an early shift, changed out of his work clothes, grabbed some tea and drove to see his friends. He was wearing his uniform jacket because Zayn still had his coat, but he didn't really mind. He just hoped that Zayn was actually wearing it, too.

When he arrived at their wall, Louis wasn't there but Liam saw Zayn from afar, and noticed with a smile that he was indeed wearing Liam's coat.

“Zayn! How are you feeling?”, Liam greeted him, coming to a stop in his usual standing spot in front of the wall. The wall itself was covered in snow and didn't look comfortable to sit on.

“Hey,” Zayn said, looking up with a smile. Liam felt himself relax when he saw that Zayn looked a lot more healthy and his voice sounded normal. He also felt the strong urge to hug him, but didn't allow himself to do it.

“Are you feeling better?”, he repeated, taking out his flask and filling two of the mugs he'd brought with hot tea.

“Yes. Tell me when you'll be here next, so I can bring your clothes.”

Liam handed him the mug and shrugged, “I don't know. It's mostly spontaneous decisions to come here. But that's not that urgent anyway.”

“And take your jacket with you,” Zayn added. He didn't move to take it off, though.

“Keep it for a while. This one,” Liam pointed to the one he was wearing, “Is okay for me. I feel better knowing you have it.”

“So you think I don't own one?”, Zayn asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh,” Liam stuttered, wondering if he'd offended him, “I'm not sure?”

Zayn shook his head, an amused grin on his face. He held the cup of tea to his cheeks and forehead before drinking from it.

“So how long have you been sitting here today?”, Liam asked carefully.

“Not long. Usually get here later. You would've missed me on a normal day,” Zayn shrugged.

“Normal day? So today's not normal?”, Liam asked curiously.

Zayn hummed and shifted on the wall, so Liam decided to drop it.

“Why are you sitting in the snow anyway? You're going to get sick again,” he said instead.

Zayn rolled his eyes, “I cleared the snow off first. Also, your coat's pretty long. It's fine.”

“Hey, how old are you anyway?”

Liam had suddenly remembered his conversation with Louis.

“19,” Zayn answered.

“Really?”, Liam asked, surprised to have even gotten an answer.

“Why would I lie?”, Zayn asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

“I don't know. You'd lie if you were underage, I guess..”, Liam muttered.

“I'm not. I'm 19.”

“How long have you been 19 for?”

“A while.”

“And how long have you been doing this?”, Liam waved his hand around them.

“A while.”

“The same amount of 'a while' you've been 19 for?”, he tilted his head in confusion.

Zayn rolled his eyes again, not bothering to answer. Liam guessed the answer was no. He sighed, but smiled anyway. At least he'd gotten some new information!

“I'm 21,” he said offhandedly.

Zayn nodded, a rather curious look on his face but it was soon replaced by his usual blank expression. He fumbled a cigarette out of his – Liam's coat's – pocket and lit it, breathing the smoke in deeply.

Liam frowned, “Why are you smoking? It's so bad for your health. And it smells, especially afterward. There's nothing appealing about it.”

“It's my hobby,” Zayn said, taking another drag and blowing it directly in Liam's direction.

“What kind of a hobby is that?”, Liam asked, waving the smoke away with his hands, “It's not even fun and costs so much money!”

Zayn nodded, “Yeah, that part sucks.”

“You should get a new hobby,” Liam suggested, “I'm sure there's something you like that will be more fun and cheaper than smoking.”

Zayn chuckled, shaking his head. Liam didn't even try to hide the fact that he was   
staring in awe again.

“Do you think Louis' going to be here tomorrow?”

Zayn shrugged, finishing his cigarette and dropping it to the floor. Liam stepped on it immediately and received another chuckle.

“So he just turns up whenever?”

“He hasn't been here all week. It's cold and he usually doesn't come that often in Winter. Especially not when it's snowing,” Zayn finally explained.

Liam frowned, “But you were sick all week. How would you know?”

Of course there was no answer. But Liam wasn't surprised, he'd expected Zayn to not listen to his advice anyway.

“Doesn't it get lonely if he's not here? Or scary even?”

Zayn shook his head, “He's not here that often. I told you.”

“But he mentioned that sometimes pretty intimidating guys come here. You're telling me you don't get scared?”

“That would be pointless,” Zayn said. Liam sighed, knowing he was going to worry even more in the future. Especially if Zayn was going to be all alone out on the street on most nights.

“Have you ever tried getting a different job?”

Zayn shot him an angry look and Liam winced. He'd expected to just be ignored again. There was no answer, though.

“Why would you end up doing this anyway? People usually don't just.. well. What about your parents? Can't they support you? You're only 19 after all,” he continued anyway.

Zayn huffed, “I don't want to talk about it. Drop it.”

Liam listened because it was the first time Zayn had ever told him he didn't want to talk about something. He made a mental note to remember that Zayn's family was off-limits.

  
Somehow Liam ended up visiting Zayn most nights for the next few days, whenever he didn't have the night shift. Louis never showed up and Zayn was never as talkative as that first day again. He did bring Liam's backpack with the clothes he'd borrowed, though. Liam refused to accept his coat back. He loved that Zayn was wearing it every night.

It was on Tuesday that Liam showed up at the wall and found Louis sitting next to Zayn, wrapped in a thick jacket and a beanie pulled deep into his face. He was still shivering, obviously not as used to the cold as Zayn – and even Liam, by then.

“Liam!”, he shouted excitedly when he saw him approaching. Liam waved at him and stopped in front of them.

“How are you doing?”, Louis asked, grabbing Liam's bag shamelessly to pour himself a cup of tea. Liam grinned at Zayn who didn't look back at him.

“Fine. Been a bit busy at work because of the snow. People keep getting into car accidents. How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while.”

Louis nodded, “I've been taking a break. And Niall found a job! You should definitely visit him there sometime. Harry and I can't really do that because we can't afford to buy anything and Niall doesn't want us to just visit without spending money. It's a shame.”

“That's great!”, Liam exclaimed, “Where does he work?”

“Oh, you know that diner next to the cinema on main street? There.”

Liam nodded, “I know that. I'll go visit him soon. You should all come, though. My treat?”

Louis' grin widened and Liam knew he'd accept the offer, “Can't wait to tell Harry that!”

“So you don't have to worry about paying your rent anymore now?”

Louis sighed, “Well, Niall doesn't get that much money yet. It's more of a test phase really. They're only paying him enough so he can't complain, but it's not a lot. It's better than before, though.”

“You still have to come here?”

“I don't think I really have to. Depends on how many shifts Niall gets and how much Harry can sell on his own, really.”

“Harry's selling drugs on his own now?”

“Couldn't get him to stop,” Louis frowned, “We kind of had an argument about that. It was our first fight, by the way. And he won it so he gets to continue.”

“How can he win a fight? Did you physically fight?”, Liam asked in confusion.

“I gave in first, so that makes him the winner,” Louis explained.

Liam nodded and finished his tea, “So do you have any plans for Christmas?”

Louis' face lit up immediately, “Not really for Christmas, but since it's my birthday Harry and Ni-”

“Wait, today's your birthday? Why didn't you say anything?”, Liam interrupted him.

“Not today. My birthday is on Christmas Eve,” Louis rolled his eyes, “And usually Niall and Harry plan something for it. I don't even tell them not to anymore. It's nice.”

Liam nodded, “What about you, Zayn?”

Zayn looked up for the first time, “Nothing.”

“You don't do anything?”, Liam asked sadly.

“Never have. My family's Muslim,” Zayn shrugged.

“Oh,” Liam nodded, “That explains it, I guess.”

“Hey, we'll make our visit to Niall's diner our first official annual friendship Christmas dinner,” Louis suggested.

“But Niall's going to have to work. That wouldn't be nice,” Liam frowned.

“Right,” Louis mumbled, “Whatever. He won't mind.”

  
They scheduled their 'first official annual friendship Christmas dinner' for Saturday that week, ignoring Zayn's protests of not wanting to go. Liam threatened to come to his house and manhandle him there himself if he didn't come on his own, which shut the protests up surprisingly quickly. Liam grinned contently.

He left a while after that, stopping by the supermarket on the way home to get some food. He also decided to give his Mom a call soon to stop her from lecturing him about not keeping in touch when he came to visit over the holidays.

The call was short, his mother mostly talking about little Maisie and Liam listening sadly. He missed his baby niece. He couldn't wait to see her on Christmas and promised himself he'd spent the whole holidays cuddling and spoiling her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> thank you so much for the comments and kudos'. I'm usually not one to post notes, but I need to get this out there somehow: 
> 
> There won't be any updates for a while. Besides being swamped with work, I've been stuck in the middle of the next chapter for ages and I'm not getting anywhere with it.
> 
> This is what you get for posting a story before it's finished. I knew I shouldn't ever do that. I'm really sorry.
> 
> See you as soon as I've figured out a way around this writer's block!


End file.
